You're Correct!

If you are hitting a long chip shot across the green and you need to make sure it is reaching the hole, it is really important that you swing through the shot and that you follow through correctly.

Your follow through should be equal to the distance that you swung the club away from the ball on your back swing. Once you have set up, imagine there is a clock in front of you. It is 6 cclock down by the ball and 12 oclock up by your head. You can think of looking at that clock as you swing back and to achieve an equal swing length, where your follow through is the same distance through the ball as your back swing was away from it, you need to work on achieving mirror image time positions on the clock face.

If you only swing back into a 5 oclock position, you need to get back to the ball at 6 oclock and then follow through all the way to 7 oclock. It is basically a mirror image of how far you swing the club back to how far you follow through. If you swing the club back to 4 oclock because you are playing a longer chip shot, then you need to get the club back down from 4 oclock all the way through the ball at 6 and continue the swing to 8 oclock. So again it is a mirror image.

Similarly, if it is an even further shot that you need to play and you are swinging the club head all the way back to 3 oclock, you must strike the ball, strike all the way through and make sure you finish in a 9 oclock position, with the club head.

To make sure that your longer chip shots reach the hole you have got to work out how far you need to swing the club on your back swing - how far the hole is away from you and then make sure you hold your finish in the correct position on that clock. If you have swung back to 3 oclock, your finish position must be 9 oclock, for 4 oclock your finish position must be 8 oclock and if you have swung back to 5 oclock it must be 7 oclock.

It is really important that you swing all the way through and that the club head maintains its swing speed through the shot. If you follow through correctly, that will ensure you will accelerate the club through impact. If you are finishing short of that mirror image position, you are decelerating as you go through impact and as you decelerate and you connect with the ball, the club head loses its speed, the club stops short after the ball because it is slowing down and a lower amount of club head speed is delivered into the ball, with the ball finishing short of the target.

Work on having an equal back swing length to an equal follow through length and your chips will make it to the target.

Tempo is really important when you are making a really nice chip shot. Avoid swinging too fast and stabbing at the ball after a short follow through. It is very important that the swing is rhythmical as you will get a much more consistent result. If you swing back and then swing through at a good tempo, and increase the length of your swing, it will deliver the correct amount of club head speed.

If you are hitting the ground before you hit the ball, all of the club head speed will be transferred into the ground rather than into the ball and that will mean that your golf shot ends up short of the hole.

Work on hitting a crisp shot, hit the ball first, but make sure that you follow through and that your follow through equals the distance that you have swung the club back. If you work on doing that you will really improve your long chip shots.